This invention relates to a process and apparatus for identifying chemical components present in a container. More particularly, the present invention relates to analyzing and identifying what was last contained in a vessel or container, i.e., the "last contents" of the container, by analyzing and identifying vapors of residual chemical or chemicals present in a vessel or container.
In the chemical industry transportation of chemical products commonly takes place by train rail cars (tank cars) or by tank trucks. The tanks on the trains or trucks are shipped from one destination to another, emptied of their contents and thereafter, refilled with chemical product for their next shipment or destination. Sometimes a tank car or tank truck can remain idle for long periods of time before they are filled again.
Usually, after unloading the chemicals from a tank car or tank truck, it is desirous to refill the tank with the identical chemical compound. However, it is not uncommon in the industry to fill a tank car or tank truck with more than one different chemical after several transportations. Usually a residual of chemicals remains in the tank after its contents are emptied and vapors of the chemical compound are formed in the tank. In such an instance, the tank must be checked to verify that the desired chemical to be added to the tank is compatible with the vapors in the tank so that the combination will not cause unwanted contamination, violent reactions or hazards such as explosions. It is also not uncommon in the industry to use other company's tank cars by leasing arrangements. In such instances, in order to avoid the problems enumerated above, it is essential to verify that the chemical compound or compounds present in the tank are, in fact, the chemicals last shipped before the tank is refilled with the same or compatible chemicals.
In the past, in order to carry out verification of the last contents of a tank car, for example, a tank car operator would have to climb on top of a tank car, manually open the tank car cover and manually take a sample from the tank car using a syringe as a sample container. Sampling of the tank car by the operator was not only dangerous to his safety, but was time consuming and cumbersome. Then the sample container would be taken from the tank car site, in hand by the tank car operator, to a laboratory which could be located a great distance (miles) away from the tank site. Laboratory personnel would then analyze the sample by laboratory methods while the tank car operator waited for the results of the laboratory analysis. When the analysis was complete, the operator would then take the results of the analysis back to the tank site so that the operation of filling the tank car could begin. The overall process of verifying the last contents of a tank car was time consuming and cumbersome and was compounded by the multiplicity of samples that needed to be analyzed.
It is therefore, desired to provide an analysis method and system for analyzing the last contents of a container or vessel which allows data to be processed much quicker than done heretofore and much easier, readily, and simpler than the processes heretofore. It is also desired to provide a simplified process for collecting vital data needed to carry on operations of filling tanks and vessels with chemicals.